Table 3. Household characteristics in areas served by MHOs and a control area without MHOs, Mali, 2003–2004.

Characteristic	Household membership in MHO			Total n = 2 280
	MHO member n = 817	MHO non-member in MHO catchment area n = 787	Control n = 676
Head of household
Age in years* (%)
≤ 24	3	6	4	5
25–34	17	27	31	28
35–49	39	37	34	36
≥ 50	41	30	31	31
Educational level*** (%)
No education	26	43	61	49
Primary	43	47	38	43
Secondary	31	11	1	8
Ethnic group*** (%)
Bambara	18	29	64	42
Senofo	43	34	10	25
Other	39	37	26	33
Female*** (%)	21	6	2	5
Occupation*** (%)
None	21	17	10	15
Agriculture	21	25	83	48
Commerce	55	54	6	35
Other	3	4	1	3
Household
Mean size	7.0***	6.0***	6.6***	6.3
Mean number women 15–49 years old	1.7***	1.4	1.4	1.4
Mean number children < 5 years old	0.9**	1.1**	1.4***	1.2
Religion (%)
Muslim	97	97	95	95
Other	3	3	5	5
Kilometers to health facilitya*** (%)
< 1	88	77	30	59
2–5	8	13	23	17
6–10	1	8	32	17
≥ 11	3	2	14	7
Residence*** (%)
Rural	10	19	100	50
Small urban	13	14	0	9
Large urban	77	67	0	41
Mean per capita incomeb
CFA francs	283 738	227 644	121 097	188 409
US$	538	432	230	358
Household wealth (consumption quintiles)c** (%)
Poor	5	12	33	20
Middle poor	12	16	27	20
Middle	17	21	19	20
Middle rich	25	24	14	20
Rich	41	27	7	20

*P < 0.10; **P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001. MHO, mutual health organization.
^a Distance to the closest health facility is self-reported.
^b Mean income was calculated based on family consumption divided by household size. US$ 1 = 527 CFA francs at the time of the survey in 2004.
^c Income quintiles were determined by dividing the total study population in the 5 equally sized income groups.